


The Power of Love

by MistressRen (Jokers_Sanity)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Armitage Hux Has Feelings, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux Smokes, Character Death Fix, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren in Love, M/M, Past Abuse, Protective Kylo Ren, cigarette burns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:00:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jokers_Sanity/pseuds/MistressRen
Summary: SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER!!"If love could have saved you... you would have lived forever."Kylo Ren is well aware that he is beyond redemption--not even the power of love can reach him now. But it's not because he's a monster so corrupted by the power of darkness that he does not know how to love. It's because if someone truly loved him, they wouldn't try to change him. And the one person who loved him in spite of it all is contemplating treason because Kylo isKylo, who cannot help but destroy everything he loves.“What’s the matter, Supreme Leader Ren?” The corner of Hux’s mouth lifts in the beginnings of a smirk, “Can’t handle a little bit of pain?”“I’m not a human ashtray.” Kylo pouts; that shit is definitely going to scar.“Yes, well, I’m not a piece of shit beneath your boot. That didn’t stop you from treating me like I was.” He tosses the spent cigarette into the cold, brown, ash-ridden sludge that doubled as coffee.AKA, The Rise of Skywalker, Kylux edition.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Kudos: 53





	The Power of Love

Hux flicks the ashes from the butt of his obligatory post-sex cigarette into the mug of coffee that is currently doubling as an ashtray, exhaling a cloud of smoke directly into Kylo’s face. “I hope you realize that I am still  _ furious _ \--,”

Kylo winces, “Believe me, I am well aware.” The trail of red, aching love bites--some still sugglishly oozing blood--a testament to Hux’s burgeoning ire. The General’s plump, pouty lips are dotted with specks of drying blood that Kylo is anxious to lick away.

“You… You  _ disrespect _ me in front of my men. You  _ slam _ me into the wall with your blasted mind tricks. You  _ waste _ valuable resources that could have been used to decimate the last dredges of the Resistance to indulge a meaningless vendetta. And you think you can make everything better with a proper fuck?”

“...It wasn’t a  _ meaningless _ vendetta.” He huffs, recoiling a bit when Hux stubs out his cigarette on the side of his neck. “Holy kriffing--,” he swats Hux’s hand away, “What the fuck was that for?”

“What’s the matter,  _ Supreme Leader Ren _ ?” The corner of Hux’s mouth lifts in the beginnings of a smirk, “Can’t handle a little bit of pain?” 

“I’m not a human ashtray.” Kylo pouts; that shit is  _ definitely _ going to scar. 

“Yes, well, I’m not a piece of  _ shit _ beneath your boot. That didn’t stop you from treating me like I was.” He tosses the spent cigarette into the cold, brown, ash-ridden sludge that doubled as coffee. “Don’t you have somewhere  _ else _ to be?”

“So anxious to be rid of me?” He asks, more than a little afraid of the answer he’d receive. 

A sigh, “I believe that that’s my line.”

The reddish-purple bruise that mars Hux’s neck is horrific in the half-light of their chambers. Kylo isn’t particularly well-versed in the ways of wound care, as evidenced by the numerous scars that littered his hulking frame. He’d never cared to learn more than what was strictly necessary to keep himself alive, but now… he wishes that there is something that he can offer to dull the pain that Hux  _ must _ be feeling. Even if he is too prideful to allow it to show, he is not invincible. For all the strength housed in that beautiful mind, his body is  _ fragile _ and needs to be handled with care. Hux catches him staring, his lips curling down into a frown as he drags the blankets up over his naked body to hide the evidence of Kylo’s little ‘tantrum’.

For all the violent outbursts that Hux had witnessed across the years, he’d never born the brunt of one of Kylo’s tantrums. He’d foolishly allowed himself to believe that Kylo would never hurt him, that even a rabid beast would recognize the hand that fed it. Those hands, that could destroy billions of units worth of military equipment in a fit of rage, that could bring him to the highest peaks of pleasure… had almost broken his neck. Hux reaches for his cigarette carton, swallowing hard against the dark, swirling pit of shame rising in his belly. His throat--his  _ everything _ \--hurts. Green eyes flit to the bleeding burn-mark on Kylo’s neck, the pale skin singed a stomach-churning black. He lights up, taking a long, slow drag that makes his lungs burn and his mind hazy.

Kylo fishes around in the bedside table until he recovers a small tube of bacta gel. Hux tilts his head back, ignoring the razor-sharp stabs of pain that flare in his neck and torso in favor of attempting to blow a perfect smoke ring… Kylo is muttering something beneath his breath that sounds suspiciously like a lecture as he rubs the gel along the inflamed, chaffed skin of his neck. The Commander--no, the new  _ Supreme Leader, _ Hux silently corrects with an exaggerated eye-roll--had never been particularly fond of Hux’s little  _ habit _ , and had managed to nag him down to one cigarette after meals and after sex. Considering that he’d almost been asphyxiated a few hours earlier, it stood to reason that he shouldn’t be actively attempting to further compromise his lung capacity. But he’s  _ stressed _ . And he’s  _ pissed _ . And frankly, that flavorless shit the medbot tried to pass off as  _ gum _ wasn’t going to cut it.

“...Are you going to leave me?” Hux blinks. Though he can see that Kylo is still smearing bacta on his neck, his touch is so impossibly  _ light _ he’d actually managed to forget, if only for a moment. 

“I should.” Or kill him for treason. Those black gloves are still drenched in Snoke’s blood, after all.

“If that’s what you want… I won’t try to stop you.” Kylo says, and for some unfathomable reason… Hux believes him. If he were to walk out that door right now, it would shatter Kylo’s heart, yes, but he wouldn’t fight him. 

Hux’s lips curl in disdain as he bites down on the filter of his cigarette, “I will not abandon my station. Unlike  _ some _ , I understand the meaning of loyalty.”

Those big, brown doe eyes look appropriately rueful as he whispers, “So you’re only staying with me for my title.” It’s not a question.

“I am staying with the  _ First Order _ out of loyalty to its vision. If you happen to be the monster at its head, so be it.” The red-head snarls, enjoying Kylo’s poor attempt to conceal a flinch at the word ‘monster’. “Whether or not  _ you _ are worth my time remains to be seen.”

His hand stills, the cool bacta shimmering on his fingers, “For what it’s worth… I’m sorry.”

“But you’re not. Not really.” Oh, how Hux would  _ love _ to drown his sorrows in a steaming mug of Irish coffee… or, better yet, skip the coffee and head straight for the whiskey. It might dull his headache, at least for a moment. “You have everything you ever wanted.”

“I never wanted to hurt you.” But that’s what they’re good at--hurting each other. 

“But you did.”

Despite how desperately he may want to, Kylo cannot dispute cold, hard facts. The evidence of his transgression is splayed out before him on the bed, and even with the power of the Force at his fingertips, he cannot turn back time and take those marks away. Kylo sets the almost-empty tube aside, wiping his fingers on sheets stained with various bodily fluids… He knows that he should leave, should allow Hux time to process and come to terms with what happened, and yet… He has a sinking feeling that, if he walks out now, this will be the last time that he sees Hux. He can feel the older man slipping between his fingers like water; and the tighter he attempts to hold onto him, the faster he seems to slip. They say that, if you love something, let it go and if its meant to be, it will find its way back… 

He wants to tell him that he loves him, to remind him that they’ve been together through worse. Hux had come within seconds of  _ falling off the side of a planet _ to rescue him after his failed battle with the Jedi-wannabe brat that had started this whole mess. Hux had pieced him back together each and every time that Snoke had broken him during the grueling months of training that followed his  _ failure _ . And how had he repaid him? By Force-choking him into submission and slamming him into the control panel of a destroyer. Oh yes, that was boyfriend of the year material right there. He wants to tell him that he loves him, but is terrified of the response he’ll receive. Because if Hux doesn’t love him anymore, doesn’t  _ believe _ in him anymore, then he truly is alone in this world and that thought terrifies him.

He can’t take the heartbreak he knows is coming, and so he whispers, “I… You should rest. And I should… check in and see what the troopers managed to excavate from the remains of the flagship.”

Hux’s eyes meet his for one heartstopping moment, before he responds, “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be.” He takes a long drag of his cigarette, and contemplates leaving a matching burn-mark on the opposite side of Kylo’s neck. “Truer words were never spoken.”

“Hux…” the General drops his cigarette into the coffee mug, before rolling over onto his side, his pale back to Kylo.

“Goodbye,  _ Ren _ .” He feels the bed shift as Kylo rises, taking a moment to adjust his disheveled robes before heading toward the door. He closes his eyes and forces his facial features into a mask of neutral passivity as he hears the man give a soft sniffle and see himself out. 

And if there were tears brimming in his own eyes, well… it wasn’t like there was anyone left to care. 


End file.
